Seaming machine



W. DIEZEL SEAMING MACHINE Jan. 8, 1946.

7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 16, 1942 IN V EN TOR I iii/9171220 W. DIEZEL SEAMING MACHINE Jan. 8, 1946.

Filed Jan. 16, 1942 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

' BY Willy 171a! arrow/v5) Jan. 8, 1946. w. DlEZEL U 2,392,728

' SEAMING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1942 'T Sheets-Sheet b IN VEN TOR. M'l' q 171?! Q 3 TTURNEY Jan. 8, 1946. w. DIEZEL SEAMING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. fi/Jl/y 17((Zfl BY WW ATTUIFNEI Jan. 8, 1946. w. DIEZEL SEAMING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 )INVENTOR.

Jan. 8, 1946. w. DIEZE'L 2,392,728

SEAMING MACHINE Filed Jan. 16, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 smrer 0F TUE/PET INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 8, 1946 SEAMING MACHINE Willy Diezel, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to The Max Ams Machine Company, Conn, a corporation of New York Bridgeport,

Application January 16, 1942, Serial No. 426,967

2 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to seaming machines, and more specifically to the so-called closing machines that act to seam a canend or cover to a filled can-body.

The main object and feature of the invention is to provide means for feeding and bringing the can-body to rest on the platform at the seaming station of the machine in such a way that the tendency to spill the contents of said can-body is minimized so that the machine can be run at a high speed without unduly disturbing said contents.

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of a seaming machine, the section being substantially on the plane of line |-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view substantially on the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3 of Fig, 2, with parts broken away and in section;

Fig. 4 is a more or less diagrammatic plan view of the cover feeding and marking device;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the plane of line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the plane of line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the plane of line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 8 to 11 are fragmentary views showing the steps involved in transferring the can-body from the can-body conveyor to the pedestal and in freeing said can-body from the control of the can-body conveyor,

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view showing the relative travel of the can and .the turret; and

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic development view of the cam for actuating the turret.

1 indicates a platform located at the seaming station of the machine and having means for raising and lowering said platform, consisting here of cam 2 and lever 3 pivoted at 4 and pivotally connected to said platform at 5. The function of this platform is to raise a can-body and a cover into engagement with the seaming mechanism, indicated generally at 6, which seaming mechanism may be of any suitable construction and need not be described in detail. 1 is a turret, intermittently rotatable step by step by means that will be described at a later point. This turret has four pockets 8, each to receive a cover and a can-body. 9 is a can-body support that extends in a straight line to pedestal l, and indicates a conveyor having pins as l l extending up through a slot 9a in said support, for pushing can-body it over said support and to uninterruptedly transfer said can-body from said support to said pedestal while the latter is in its lower position. Conveyor ll] is trained over sprockets l3 and I4 and it will be seen that said conveyor has unobstructed passage through an opening 15 in the pedestal. The speed of conveyor I0 is uniform and can-body l2, therefore, is not subject to any change in speed in passing from can-support 9 to pedestal I. It must be emphasized that turret 1 does not transfer can-body l2 from cansupport 9 to the pedestal, but only acts thereafter to free it from the propelling action of pin II, to position or center the can-body with respect to said pedestal, andto bring it to a state of rest. How this is accomplished will be understood from a consideration of Figs. 1, 3 and '7 to 13. Turret 1 is mounted on a rotatable shaft l6 that is intermittently turned by 'a suitable variable speed mechanism. In the present instance, such speed mechanism consists of cam l1, mounted on shaft IS, with which cam engage four rollers l9, mounted on a disk 20, carried by shaft IS. A development of cam i1 is shown in Fig. 13, from which it will be understood that, while a cam roller I9 is being acted upon by that active portion of the cam which extends from l'la to I'll), said shaft 16 is brought from a state of rest and begins its turning movement at a rapidly accelerated speed. Furthermore, that when that active portion of cam I! that lies between Ill) and He acts upon a roller l9, the speed of shaft It will be substantially constant and will be substantially equal to that of conveyor 10 which is feeding the can-body. Again, while that active portion of cam I! that lies between I10 and 11d acts upon a roller IS, the speed of shaft I6 is slightly accelerated. Finally, when that active portion of cam l1 that lies between 1111 and He acts upon a roller IS, the speed of shaft I6 is decelerated and brought to a state of rest. When a roller 19 is engaging the straight or inactive p01- tions I1 and Hg of said cam I1, shaft 16 and turret 1 stand still and the seaming operation takes place.

The action of cam I1 is similar to that of a Geneva stop motion in that it imparts an intermittent movement to the turret, but this movement is, as above pointed out, a variable one and how this is accomplished will now be described. At the end of the seaming operation the cam roll marked l9a in Fig. 2 will be at the point marked Ila in Fig. 13 and the continued rotation of the cam now causes said roll l9a to enter the active portion of the cam and eventually to swing out of engagement with said cam at the point llh..

This occurs at a time, when the turret is half way through itsuniform motion between points But when roll I9a swings out of 7 Nb and I10. engagement with the cam at the point 1111., another roll, marked lab (in Fig. 2), is entering the cam at'the point IIk (in Fig. 13) and the uniform motion of the turret continues until said roll I9ib arrives at point Ilc when the motion of the turret is accelerated. Cam roll l9b then completes the turning movement of the turret and then enters inactive cam portion I'Ig. Considering, therefore, the action of one cam roll, it will be seen that it enters cam I l at the point l'lk, during one intermittent step of the turret, and leaves it at I'Ih, during the. next intermittent step of said turret, and that a single step of the turret is effected partly by one cam roll and partly by another cam roll.

Considering now the plotting of the movements .of turret! indicated in Fig. 12, it will be seen that line la indicates the center line of a pocket 8 at the beginning of the turning movement of the turret. This turning movement, as has been explained, is at a rapidly accelerated speed until the center line of such pocket 8 is at the point lb. At the beginning of the turning movement of the turret from the position Ia, a'can-body I2 will occupy the position indicated at I2a in Fig. 12 and, as the can-body is traveling in a straight line toward the pedestal at a constant speed, it is necessary to get the leading wing 8a of pocket 8 out of the way of said can-body and therefore the turret is given the accelerated speed indicated between points Ia and 1b. To prevent pocket 8 from engaging the can-body prematurely and in order to allow conveyor I and pin II to uninterruptedly feed the can-body to pedestal I,

the speed of the'turret is then rendered substantially uniform between lines lb and 1c and substantially. equal to that of the speed of conveyor I0 and pin II. The can-body having been placed partially upon pedestal I by pin II (Fig. 8), the speed of the turret is slightly accelerated to thereby bring pocket 8 of the turret in contact with'the can-body and to advance it a trifle ahead of pin II (Fig, 9). This action begins at the point 10. Shortly thereafter, platform I starts to rise (Fig. 10) and the slight acceleration of I the speed of the turret and the rise of pedestal I above the plane of pin I I frees the can-body from control of and contact with pin II and 2,392,728 7 I r r the turret.

places its movement entirely in control of turret I. .The speed of the turret now decelerates from point Id-until the point 7e is reached when the can-body is central of pedestall and is there brought to a standstill (Fig. 1.1). The advantage of this construction is that the can-body is freed from the control of pin I I while said pin is traveling in a straight line and therefore a much smaller amount of 'acceleration of the turret 'is needed and consequently no sudden jar is imparted to the can-body. For it will be understood that, if the turret were used to transfer the canbody' from can-support 9 to pedestal I,'then sprocket I4 would have to be locatedin front of said pedestal and pin I I would therefore be traveling, at the moment of transfer, over a curved surface (the sprocket), which curved surface would incline pin II from the vertical and therefore tend to push the can-body ahead of the speed imparted to it during thevertical position of pin II.

Consequently, under such conditions, the turret would have to be speeded up to a much greater extent and that would increase the sp d of the can-body rather suddenly.

23 indicates a cover feeding device intended to feed the covers singly'toa marking'device 24 and thereafter to one of the pockets 8 of turret I,

said pocket receiving the covers while the turret is standing still. It is the custom to mark the covers by means of die stamping but, owing to the fact that a rather sharp blow has to be used in order tomark the cover legibly and such sharp blow has a tendency to jar the machine as' a whole'as well as the cover feeding means, the

tendency has been to diminish the impact, with the result that the covers are often illegibly or partially marked. In order to overcome this difficulty, both the cover feeding mechanism and the marking device supporting and operating means have been individually improved and have also been coordinated in a new manner as will presently appear.

The cover feeding means or device comprises theusual stack 25 for holding a supply of covers 26 and these covers are removed from the stack and fed forward by a reciprocatory feeding member 21. This member slides in guides 28 and receives its motion from a cam 29, mounted on shaft 36, with which cam engages a cam roll 3I, carried by a slidable yoke 32, pivotally connected by means of a link 33 togan arm 34, carried by U rockshaft 35. Rockshaft35 carries an arm 36,

pivotally connected by means of a link 31 to feeding member 21; Cam 29 is so formed that cover feeding member 2'! is first given a forward movement sufficient to separate a cover from the stack and to feed it into position at the marking sta tion of marking device 24. Said member 2'! is then retracted slightly so as to free it from. engagement with the cover that it has just fed to the marking station and, while said member 27 is so retracted, the punch of the marking device descends and strikes a sharp blow on the cover. Cover feeding member 2! now moves forward again so as to feed the, cover from the marking station into pocket 8 of turret I, and said member 21 is then retracted all the way back to put it in position to separate and feed the next cover. It will be seen that by this device the sharp impact which the punch of the marking device delivers to the cover will not be transmitted to cover feeding member 21 and will thus not tend to disarrange" or jar the parts of the cover feeding device. 7 I

Marking device 24, although consisting of the usual anvil 38 and hammer or plunger 39, presents important features of improvement, as will presently appear. 40 indicates a bracket, having upper and lower jaws and 42 that are spaced apart but connected (Figs. 3 and 6) so as to form a unitary structure, and this bracket 40 is secured to seaming mechanism housing 43 as by means of bolts I4. Housing43 carries seaming mechanism 6 and its actuating means 45, and is slidably adjustable on framework 46 in a vertical direction by means of a suitable adjusting device conventionally shown and indicated at 41. It has been customary to have the seaming mechanism housing adjustable on the framework and to have the hammer of the marking device adjustable with it, but the anvil in such cases was then carried by the lower framework. The result of such former construction was that a terrific jar was imparted to the elements associated with the lower part of the machine and a tremendous strain was exerted on thecam (such as 48) that actuated the hammer. In order to lessen the strain and jar it was customary to lessen the impactof the hammer as much as possible, with the result that the covers were often only partially, or illegibly, marked. Experience has shown that an impact of the order of fifteen tons to the square inch is necessary to adequately mark the stock of which the cover is made, and such pressure or blow can be made use of with the present construction without deleterious effects, as will now appear (Fig. 3). Cam 48 is carried by a sleeve 49 that is supported on bracket 50 bolted to housing 43. The motion of cam 48 is transmitted to hammer or plunger 39 by means of a bellcrank pivoted at 52 on bracket 49, carrying at one end a cam roll 53 to engage cam 48 and having its other end pivotally connected at 54 to a link 55, which latter in turn is pivotally connected at 55a to toggle links 56 and 51. Toggle 56 is pivotally supported at 58 on bracket 40 and toggle 51 is pivotally connected at 59 to hammer or plunger 39. projection 60 carrying one or more freely rotatable abutment or thrust rollers 6| that engage beneath cam 48. It will be seen from the foregoing that sleeve 49 and therefore cam 48 is adiustable in unison with housing 53 and bracket 40. It will further be seen that, when cam 48 actuates plunger 39 and strikes the cover on anvil 38, the force of the blow is transmitted back through bracket 40 and in an upward direction to thrust roller 6| that bears against cam 48 and thereby tends to ease the strain on the same.

Turning now, for a moment, our attention back to the cover feeding means, it will be seen that stack 25, guides 28 and the other elements of said cover feeding means are carried by a supporting member or plate 62 slidably adjustable on rockshaft 35 and connected to housing 43 at 63 and, therefore, adjustable with said housing. Adjacent the marking station are two cover supporting ledges 64 and 65 (Figs. 2, 4 and 6) that are supported by spring-pressed plungers 65 and 61 so that they will yield in a downward direction when the hammer strikes the cover. These spring-pressed plungers are seated in plate 62.

The means for actuating the machine are, in the present instance, as follows: Shaft 15 is the instrumentality from which motion is derived for operating the elements with which we are concerned. Shaft 15 has a, clutch member 15 (Fig. 1) that engages a corresponding clutch member 11 on gear 18 fast on shaft 19. The clutch is interposed in the connections merely for the purpose of allowing the clutch members to disengage in case an obstruction to the running of the machine occurs. Gear 18 meshes with pinion 80 (Fig. 7) on shaft 8 l, which latter carries sprocket Wheel i4 that drives chain in of the can-body conveyor. Shaft 19 also carries a gear 82 that meshes with and drives gear 83 on shaft 353, thereby operating both cams 48 and 29 and thus actuating the cover feeding means and the marking device. Shaft 19 further carries cam 2 that actuates the pedestal lifting means, and carries also a gear 84 that meshes with and drives gear 85 on shaft 18, the latter of which carries cam 11, whereby the turret is rotated. It is unnecessary to describe the operating means for the seaming mechanism.

The construction of the cover feeding device Bracket 40 is provided with a and of the .markingdevice andtheir interrelation are not claimedherein but form the subject matter of a divisional application filed October 6, 1943, Ser. No. 505,114;

I claim: i

1.. 111a seaming machine having a seaming station'at which a pedestaLhaving an opening inits surface, is located, and having an intermittently step-by-step rotatable turret provided with pockets to receive can-bodies, and in which each intermittent movement of said turret brings a pocket of said turret into position at said seaming station, the combination with said pedestal and said turret, of a can-body support, having an opening in its surface in line with the opening in said pedestal, extending in a straight line to said pedestal; an endless conveyor associated with said can-body support and said pedestal; a plurality of pins carried by said conveyor to project through the openings in the surfaces of said can-body support and said pedestal, each of said pinsto advance a can-body over said support and uninterruptedly onto said pedestal at a uniform speed; means to move said conveyor at a uniform speed; a variable-speed mechanism and connections to actuate said turret, during each of its steps, first with an accelerated speed until the leading wing of that pocket which will be the next one to arrive at said seaming station has passed the next canbody that is being advanced on said support by said conveyor and a pin thereof: secondly with a speed substantially equal to that of said pin advancing said next can-body on said support until said can-body has been moved onto said pedestal by said pin at a uniform speed: thirdly with a slightly accelerated speed to thereby cause said pocket to engage said can-body, after the latter has been transferred to said pedestal, and to thereby free said can-body from said pin: and fourthly with a decelerating speed to center said can-body and bring it to a state of rest on said pedestal; and means and connections to elevate said pedestal after said can-body has been placed on said pedestal and while said can-body is being centered and brought to a state of rest on said pedestal, by said pocket.

2. In a seaming machine having a seaming station at which a pedestal, having an opening in its siuface, is located, and having an intermittently step-by-step rotatable turret provided with pockets to receive can-bodies, and in which each intermittent movement of said turret brings a pocket of said turret into position at said seaming station, the combination with said pedestal and said turret, of e, can-body support, having an opening in its surface in line with the opening in said pedestal, extending in a straight line to said pedestal; an endless conveyor associated with said can-body support and said pedestal; a plurality of pins carried by said conveyor to project through the openings in the surfaces of said canbody support and said pedestal, each of said pins to advance a can-body over said support and uninterruptedly onto said pedestal at a uniform speed; means to move said conveyor at a uniform speed; a cam and connections to actuate said turret, during each of its steps, first with an accelerated speed until the leading wing of that pocket which will be the next one to arrive at said seaming station has passed the next canbody that is being advanced on said support by said conveyor and a pin thereof: secondly with a speed substantially equal to that of said pin advancing said nextcan-body on said support until said can-bod has been moved onto said pedestal by said pin at a uniform speed: thirdly with a, Slightly accelerated speed to thereby cause said pocket to engage said can-body, after the latter has been transferred to said pedestal, and iii to thereby free said can-body from said pin: and

fourthly with a decelerating speed to center said r 14 P r 2,392,728

nan-body and bring it to a state arrest on said pedestal; and means and connections to elevate said pedestal after said can-body has been placed on said pedestal and while said can-body is being centered and brought tov a state of rest on said pedestal, by said pocket. 7

* WILLY DIEZEL. 

